Friday, October 31, 2014

Every
time Arjuna had Jayadraratha in his eye sight, one of the six Kaurava
warriors surrounding Arjuna would attack Arjuna. The trick here was
fairly simple. None of the Kaurava warriors were trying to kill
Arjuna. They were just trying to delay him.

And
Arjuna also showed the Kaurava warriors all that he could do. He
darkened the skies, hoping to confuse the warriors as Krishna plodded
through the battlefield driving towards Jayadratha.

Drona,
Ashwattaman, Kripa, Shalya and Karna who were around Arjuna had their
job cut out for them. No matter how much close Krishna got to
Jayadratha, the warriors made sure that Arjuna was distracted by the
other warriors and could not fight Jayadratha.

Watching
the skies as darkened by Arjuna, Krishna knew that it was time that he took matters into
his own hands.

“Partha,
there is something that I should tell you,” Krishna said gravely,
making sure Arjuna was the only person who heard him.

Firing
arrows almost by throngs, Arjuna nodded as Krishna continued, “Two
things – first you must know about King Vriddhaksha.” Krishna
said, steering the chariot towards Jayadratha as Kripa had just
interfered with another arrow, which Arjuna had fired at Jayadratha.

“King
Vriddhaksha is the father of Jayadratha. What of him, my Lord?”
Arjuna asked as he had hit Karna with thirty two arrows and had
pushed Karna back.

“King
Vriddhaksha’s only son is Jayadratha and as soon as Jayadratha was
born, a heavenly voice proclaimed that Jayadratha would be good
warrior among both the solar and the lunar clans. But, the heavenly
voice also proclaimed one more thing,” Krishna gave Arjuna a
knowing glance as he continued. “The heavenly voice said that a
great warrior would kill Jayadratha by beheading him in the battle.”

Arjuna
frowned. He had just pierced Drona with fifty arrows and Vrishasena
with three arrows as he realized that Krishna’s story was very
important and nodded his head, arrows still flying thick from his
hands.

“As
soon as Vriddhaksha heard this, he was filled with remorse.
Vriddhaksha loved his son so much that he could bear the destiny
which was written for his son. Vriddhaksha let out a curse that any
person who let his son’s head roll on the ground, would himself die
the minute his son’s head fell on the ground.”

Now
Arjuna was troubled as he fired nine arrows at Kripa. He realized
that when he had decided to kill Jayadratha, he was courting death.
And Arjuna realized that whether he succeeded or failed, he could die
because of it.

“What
can I do, Krishna?” Arjuna asked as Krishna veered the chariot
sharply towards the right trying to reach Jayadratha, as Krishna
realized that he had very little time.

“When
Vriddhaksha heard his son’s destiny, he gave up his throne to his
son and went to the forests to meditate for his son. In fact, right
now Vriddhaksha is performing penance just near the battlefield.”
Krishna finished.

“The
Kauravas do not have to stop you my friend,” Krishna said with a
sad smile. “They just have to delay you. And they are delaying
you.”

Arjuna
frowned as Krishna nodded. “I am a yogi and I have immense powers
of my own. I intend to use it for you.” Krishna said simply.

Arjuna
frowned again as Krishna gave him a cryptic smile. “Just do not
believe that the sun has set. Not just yet.” Krishna said as he
closed his eyes, stopping the chariot where all the warriors
including Jayadratha were around Arjuna attacking him.

And
then the impossible happened.

The
Kaurava army watched with bated breath as the red sun set suddenly
and plunged the entire battlefield in darkness. Arjuna’s had
affixed his arrow straight on Jayadratha’s head when the darkness
spread over them.

For
a huge second Arjuna faltered. He had failed...He had....And
in the surrounding the Kaurava soldiers were jeering in joy.

“The
sun has set.” One of the warriors cried in joy.

“Arjuna
has failed to keep his vow.” Another one screamed.

Arjuna
heard the whoop of shout coming from Jayadratha and things were
getting a little hazy for Arjuna and that was when Krishna’s words
came to him.

And
Arjuna in a flash, hit all the warriors of the Kaurava army, and in
the end pulled out a fiery arrow, made specially for killing
Jayadratha and in the darkness, pointed it at Jayadratha and let the
arrow fly.

******

Vriddhaksha
was in the forest meditating, and through his powers, he saw the
happenings in the Kurukshetra battle. And Krishna’s Maya was
powerful. Even Vriddhaksha believed that the sun had set and sighed in relief, thinking that his son was safe.

Vriddhaksha
closed his eyes and Vriddhaksha meditated thanking the Gods for sparing his son's life. The
sage-king was lost in his meditation and did not notice that Arjuna’s
arrow had found its mark and Arjuna, the warrior of great prowess had
done the impossible. Arjuna had cheated death, despite killing Vriddhaksha's son.

Because
Arjuna fired the arrow such that, the arrow made off with
Jayadratha’s head and flew straight and landed on the lap of
Vriddhaksha, who was meditating.

Vriddhaksha
opened his eyes and got up when the head in his lap rolled to the
ground. Unfortunately, Vriddhaksha became the reason for his son’s
head to fall on the ground and Vriddhaksha died because of his own
curse.

*********

Arjuna
shouted hoarsely, as soon he killed Jayadratha. It was over. The
entire day was over....

The
Kaurava soldiers were confused because none of them could believe
what Arjuna had just done. Arjuna had killed Jayadratha after the sun
had set.

But
before the Kauravas could understand, something even more terrifying
happened. The sudden darkness surrounding the field had disappeared.
The sun appeared in the sky like always, looking like it had just
about to set.

Arjuna
and Krishna both pulled out their conches and blew loudly on it.

Bhima
saw what had happened and let out a loud roar, loud enough to reach
Yudhishtara who was on the other side of the battlefield.

Yudhishtara
smiled without meaning to as he realized that all this meant only one
thing.

Once
Bhurishravas fell, Arjuna turned his attention to Krishna. “Krishna,
we can have no more diversions. I need to get to Jayadratha. The sun
is going to set.”

Krishna
nodded and the three warriors – Arjuna, Bheema and Satyaki hurried
towards Jayadratha, who was still in the centre of the army.

Duryodhana
saw this and turned to Karna. “Your time has come, my friend. You
are the only one who can stop Arjuna. If you stop Arjuna today, then
Arjuna would not be able to kill Jayadratha and Arjuna would kill
himself. None of the Pandavas can live without each other. So if
Arjuna goes, the other brothers would kill themselves and the war
would be over.”

Karna
let out a shuddering breathe nodding. Karna’s entire body was
covered with blood from the day’s battle. “I will fight Arjuna
till I can and as long as I keep shooting arrows at him, I can stop
Arjuna.” Karna said resolutely. “But victory is something that
only destiny can decide.” Karna said ominously driving towards
Arjuna.

And
so, Ashwattaman, Karna, Vrishasena, Duryodhana, Shalya and Kripa
attacked the three warriors from the Pandava army.

And
that battle was a gory sight.

The
three people from the Pandava army and the august warriors from the
Kaurava army. And leading the charge for the Kauravas was Karna.

Karna
was fighting with Arjuna in a spirited fashion and doing his level
best to stop Arjuna. But then Arjuna was not alone. He was here with
two of the best warriors from the Pandava army. And Bheema and
Satyaki supported Arjuna more than ably.

And
soon it was Karna alone on one side against the three Pandava
warriors and Karna was able to keep the three warriors at bay.
Arjuna pulled out an arrow with all the power of the Sun and was
about to fire it at Karna. If fired, the arrow would have burnt Karna
to a crisp. But Ashwattaman fired the crescent shaped arrow at
Arjuna, at the last minute, breaking the arrow just as soon as the
arrow left Arjuna’s bow. It was said that the broken arrow broke
fell through the earth burning the portions that it fell on.

Arjuna
wanted to finish the battle quickly and killed Karna’s four horses
and also killed Karna’s charioteer.

Karna
was in the battlefield without his horses and his charioteer when
Duryodhana yelled at Ashwattaman pointing him at Karna. Ashwattaman
drove furiously at Karna and Karna got on Ashwattaman’s chariot and
the Kaurava warriors attacked Arjuna together.

Arjuna
first tried the Varuna astra – the weapon of water, to push the
Kaurava warriors back. But unfortunately for Arjuna, though he was
able to invoke the weapon, the Varuna astra did not stop the
Kauravas. Despite the water, the Kaurava warriors still attacked
Arjuna.

Arjuna
then pulled out the weapon and darkened the skies around the
Kauravas.

And
then Arjuna took his entire fighting to another level. Using all the
astras in his command, Arjuna soon fired an astra which confused the
enemy. The Kauravas soon started seeing Arjuna all around them. And
in the confusion, the real Arjuna pulled out his weapon with such
light handedness that the soldiers did not know when they were hit
and from which which direction.

The
Kaurava soldiers just kept falling.

And
Arjuna pulled out the Aindra astra immediately afterwards. The Aindra
astra brought out the fiery burst from the skies like meteors hurling
on the Kauravas. And as the Kaurava soldiers were screaming under the
glare, Arjuna made the entire battlefield dark again and killed off
the confused soldiers.

And
all the devastation paid off.

Arjuna
saw Jayadratha in his line of sight for the first time, since the
battle had started.

Princess
Devaki, the princess of Mathura had chosen her husband. She had
chosen to marry the handsome Vasudeva and she was thrilled with her
choice.

She
was about to go to Vasudeva, when there was a snarling noise and she
turned and nearly quailed in fear to see King Somadatta, walking
towards her.

Somadatta
was about to catch the hands of Devaki and watched Vasudeva angrily.
‘This princess of Mathura is mine! I will marry her. NO ONE ELSE
CAN!’ Somadatta said ferociously as he looked at the slightly aging
Vasudeva.

‘SAYS
WHO?’

All
the people in the court turned to see King Sini pulling out his sword
and walking towards Somadatta with utter hatred in his heart.

‘The
princess has chosen!’ Sini said standing between Devaki and
Somadatta, looking very dangerously at Somadatta. ‘And you cannot
change it.’

And
there was a glorious fight there in the kingdom of Mathura between
Somadatta and Sini (who was fighting on behalf of Vasudeva), for
princess Devaki. They fought for half of the day. And finally Sini
threw Somadatta on the ground and at that time pulled the sword and hit Somadatta on the feet....As all the other kings come to the
Swayamvara watched as Sini humiliated Somadatta there in Mathura....

‘I
do not wish to kill you!’ Sini said angrily, as he walked away from
there....

**************

The
swayamvara was over, but Somadatta’s anger was not. Not by a long
stretch.

Wanting
revenge for his treatment in the hands of Sini, Somadatta
prayed to the three-eyed Shiva for a son and when Shiva appeared
before him, Somadatta had but one boon. ‘I need a son, who will
strike Sini’s son, as a thousand people watch it and who will
strike Sini’s son in the foot! Just like Sini did to me....’

***************

Right
now in the war, Bhurisravas, could take it no more. He, the son was
Somadatta was one of the protector of the Kaurava army. And
Bhurisravas could just not take the fact that his army had been
penetrated not once, but three times.....And it was the second time
was the one which really really hurt Bhurisravas. Because the person
who had come in was....Satyaki, the son of Sini....As far as
Bhurisravas was concerened, the existence of Satyaki was an insult to
Bhurisravas and his family....

Letting
out a hoarse shout, Bhurisravas was watching expectedly as Satyaki
came within his line of vision inside the Kaurava army.

‘It
is my luck that you have come in front of me.’ Letting his arrow
fire at Satyaki, Bhirusravas looked at Satyaki viciously. ‘Just
like Lakshmana, the brother
of Rama, killed Indrajit, I am going to kill you.’

Satyaki
stopped the arrow effortlessly and snorted at Bhurisravas. ‘All you
do is talk!’ Satyaki said. ‘Useless words.’ Satyaki fumed and
he pulled his own arrow out.

The
fight was long drawn and magnificent. Each killed the other’s
horses and they even broke each other’s chariot.

Now
having no charge, they pulled out their swords and metal caught metal
caught in midair as the two warriors clashed...

But
Satyaki was a tired man. He had just ploughed through the Kaurava
army and he had exhausted most of his weapons.

And
the inevitable happened. In the fight between Bhurisravas and
Satyaki, Bhurisravas was slowly was gaining the upper hand.

Krishna
sensed something wrong long before he could see it and even without
meaning to he started turning the chariot, away from Jayadratha.

‘Satyaki!’
Krishna said grimly, as he turned the chariot and was driving at top
speed towards Satyaki.

And
as they reached the place, the two Krishnas met with a terrible
sight.

Bhurisravas
was toying with the tired Satyaki, who looked like he had reached the
limits of his endurance. Bhurisravas hit Satyaki hard on the shoulder
with the hilt of his sword and Satyaki stumbled as he fell on the
ground. Clutching Satyaki’s hair, Bhurisravas savagely pulled
Satyaki through the battlefield, hitting Satyaki again and again and
finally struck Satyaki on the foot....

‘Kill
him Partha!’ Krisha said as he watched Bhurisravas.

Arjuna
needed no further call and though he found Bhurisravas’s fighting
techniques far superior to that of his own disciple, without a second
thought, Arjuna affixed his arrow to the bow and let it fly...

Bhurisravas
was shocked when out of nowhere, the arrow came and pierced his
hand....sharply..

Taking
in a deep breath, Bhurisravas turned and looked angrily at Arjuna.
‘YOU?’ Bhurisravas said drawing another breath to control the
pain. ‘You have committed a great sin today, Arjuna.’ Bhurisravas
spat out angrily. ‘You fought with a man who did not challenge you
in battle. My fight was with Satyaki....’ Bhurisravas spat angrily,
watching the nearly unconscious Satyaki lying on the ground. ‘..And
you interfered. Though you had no business to!’ Bhurisravas said
angrily. ‘ARE THESE THE RULES OF BATTLE THAT YOU FOLLOW?’
Bhurisravas demanded angrily.

‘Satyaki
is my disciple.’ Arjuna roared angrily. ‘Mine! Someone for me to
protect. He is here fighting this war for my sake. I am responsible
for him.’ Arjuna continued angrily. ‘And now that you want to
behead him with your sword, what am I supposed to do? Let you do
that?’ Arjuna demanded angrily.

Bhurisravas
watched Arjuna with growing anger as Arjuna continued. ‘I am inside
the Kaurava army. Deep inside it.’ Arjuna said savagely. ‘Every
one I see here, is trying to kill me. And you think is such a
situation it is possible for me to engage just one person in battle.
There are so many arrows, so many swords and spears flying at me from
everywhere and I am engaged in battle with all of them. I judged
wrongly. I thought that you were also one of the warriors attacking
me!’ Arjuna spat out angrily.

Arjuna
watched Satyaki who was still lying barely conscious on the ground.
‘And you are one to talk about rules. If you had just killed
Satyaki, I would probably have not have even interfered...But you
tried to humiliate my student by dragging him through the
battlefield.’ Arjuna fixed the next arrow in his bow. ‘That I
cannot allow!’ Arjuna said pointing his arrow at Bhurisravas.

Strange
though it may seem, on hearing Arjuna's words, Bhurisravas lost all
the will to fight back. Bhurisravas
felt that there was nothing more
he could do....At that minute then and there, Bhurisravas gave it all
up. Bhurisravas threw his weapons and watched Arjuna, with bleary
eyes. Bhurisravas sat down on the battlefield, and
started to meditate.

Though
Arjuna lowered his bow and did not fire, he was angry as he watched
Bhurisravas who was now beginning to meditate.

‘And
you cheered the man who killed my boy when when my son was
all alone inside this very battlefield.’ A hurt Arjuna snarled as
he told Bhurisravas. Arjuna watched the man and realizing that
Bhurisravas had chosen his own manner of death was about to turn away
as he watched Bhurisravas one last time. ‘I fought you because
Krishna asked me to. Now under the very guidance of Krishna, go and
enter the regions of heaven like your ancestors.’ Arjuna told
his enemy who was now deep in meditation.

And
that was when Satyaki slowly got up from the ground. Stumbling from
the ground, Satyaki pulled up the sword and Satyaki
did
something impossible....Satyaki
beheaded
Bhurisravas.

All
the soldiers watched Satyaki in disgust at the crime that Satyaki had
committed. Satyaki had just killed a man who was not even fighting.
That was unacceptable.

Satyaki
looked at them angrily. ‘This man cheered the killer of Abhimanyu.
That is why he deserved to die. And in the heat of battle, we all do
things like this.’ Satyaki watched the body of Bhurisravas in
anger. ‘I should have done this myself when Bhurisravas was
dragging me in the mud....But Partha robbed me of this glory.’
Satyaki said feeling disgusted with himself, as he pulled out the
weapons from the ground, getting ready for battle again....

And
so as the Kaurava army watched, Bhurisravas lay dead in the battle,
killed by Satyaki, the grandson of Sini....

Satyaki
and Alamvusha were having a spirited face off in the battlefield. But
today Satyaki was unbeatable. All the duals that he had faced had
only two outcomes – either the person who faced him was killed
mercilessly or they retreated from battle. The battle with Alamvusha
was no different either. Satyaki killed the four horses of Alamvusha
and angrily pushed passed Alamvusha, and that was when Satyaki met
Dusshasana. And Dusshasana was not alone. Dusshasana’s entire
division tried to attack Satyaki in the hopes of containing the man.

They
might have as well tried containing a hurricane for all the effect it
had.....

Satyaki
ploughed through Dusshasana’s division like it was nothing and
killed four of Dusshasana’s horses and drove from there....towards
Arjuna and Krishna.

As
Satyaki was approaching the two Krishnas, he was intercepted by
Bhurisravas. Arjuna saw this when Krishna spoke. ‘Partha!’ It was
the Dark Lord. ‘Satyaki is here!’ was all Krishna told Arjuna.

But
then both Arjuna and Krishna knew what that meant and that was not
good at all....

‘How
could Yudhishtara do this?’ Arjuna asked grimly. ‘How could
Satyaki do this? I have Satyaki and Bhima here with me inside the
Vyugha!’

Krishna
said nothing as Arjuna was getting more and more angry. ‘Yudhishtara
is all alone! Bhurisravas is going to attack Satyaki and I have not
yet reached Jayadratha!’ Arjuna watched the sun furiously. ‘And I
have precious few hours of the day remaining!’ Arjuna looked
at Krishna. ‘What should I do, Krishna!’

**********

The
way the battle between Karna and Bhima was going, it seemed almost
certain that Kunti could have only five sons alive by the time the
battle was over.

But
Bhima had already run out of his weapons. So he did the next best
thing – He almost challenged Karna to a fist fight. But there was a
huge problem with that – Bhima was so strong that Karna could never
survive a fist fight with Bhima. And Bhima remembering that Arjuan
had vowed to kill this man, refrained from challenging Karna to a
dual.

And
so Karna had set his arrow on the practically unarmed Bhima and let
his arrow go....

The
arrow shot through and pierced Bhima and Bhima nearly fell
unconscious.

Furiously,
Karna remembered the promise that he had made to Kunti and angrily
decided not to kill Bhima.

Instead
of letting his arrow fly, Karna came close to Bhima and hit Bhima on
the head with the horn of his bow. But that apparently was the wrong
thing to do....Because Bhima was so angry with Karna that Bhima
snatched Karna’s bow and hit Karna on the head with Karna’s own
bow.

Karna
was shocked and shouted angrily at Bhima. ‘Glutton fool! You have
no weapons and nothing to me fight with! You have lived in the forest
and that is your place. A battlefield is not a place for a person
like you. You have no skills to fight in battle!’ Karna sneered
angrily. Karna again pushed Bhima back with his bow. ‘You should
fight others! Not with someone like me!’ Karna told Bhima angrily.
‘Go and the two Krishnas would protect you!’

Bhima
actually had the audacity to laugh at Karna. There was not a shred of
fear in Bhima’s eyes as he watched Karna. ‘How many times have
you been defeated by me now, Karna?’ Bhima asked Karna softly. ‘And
if you are really so desperate, why don’t you just fight with me
with your bare hands!’ Bhima said his eyes nearly glowing with
hatred. ‘Do you know Keechaka?’ Bhima finished. ‘After him...’
Bhima watched Karna almost with smiling insane eyes. ‘.....You.....I
will just rip you apart as all these people watch!’ Bhima finished.

And
that was when the two Krishnas came.

And
it looked like Arjuna had really heard what Karna had been taunting
Bhima with. Arjuna gave no respite to Karna and relentlessly fired
into Karna.

Karna
fell back and fell back hard.....

In
fact Arjuna was so impossibly ferocious that Karna really did not
have a choice and fled from the scene leaving Bhima.

Bhima
nodded his thanks to his brother and he got on inside the craft of
Satyaki who had also reached the place.

But
Arjuna was not done with Karna. Not by a long way. Arjuna pulled his
bow and fired at Karna, however, the arrow was again cut off by
Ashwattama.

Snarling
with anger, Arjuna saw Karna move away from the place and turned his
attention to Ashwattama.

Having
got the attention of Arjuna, Ashwattama now entered the division of
the Kaurava army with plenty of elephants and chariots....As if that
was going to stop the charging Arjuna....

As
Karna was defeated by Bhima, five other of Duryodhana’s brothers –
Durmarshana, Duhsala, Durmada Dudhara and Jaya, rushed against
Bhima. And Karna also joined the five brothers. And
as Bhima watched the six warriors coming towards him, he smiled…

Because
Bhima remembered the vow he had made in the Kuru assembly when
Duryodhana, this very vile Karna had humiliated his wife Draupadi.
Bhima had promised that he was going to kill every single son of
Dhirdarashtra, and right now five of them were coming towards him….

Bhima
kept this word that day. Not only was Bhima able to resist Karna, he
also killed the five sons of Dhirdarashtra who charged against him,
trying to help Karna.

Karna
was watching helplessly filled with guilt and shame that five
warriors – people who were like his own brother were lying dead in
front of him. All because they came to help him. They died because of
him. Unable to control the hatred or the guilt he felt, Karna picked
up his bow and this time knew that brother or not, this Pandava
deserved to die….What Karna did not know that Bhima was fighting
mad. Bhima could never forgive the haughty Karna and blamed Karna and
Duryodhana for all the misfortunes that Bhima and his brothers faced.

The
two warriors exchanged arrows almost as if they had both decided that
only person was going to walk out of this fight alive. And
impossibly, Bhima cut off Karna’s bow, again. Bhima
was ruthless and killed Karna’s horses and charioteer.

Karna
had almost reached his limit and desperately pulled he pulled the
mace from his chariot. Bhima the mace warrior, stopped Karna’s mace
with his arrows and sensing the desperation of the warrior before
him, repeatedly fired more arrows into Karna. One of Bhima’s arrow
even penetrated Karna’s armour….And Karna then realized that he
could not defeat Bhima, not today. Karna ran away from the
battlefield….

Duryodhana
watched the entire scene and sent six more of his brothers –
Chitra, Upachitra, Charuchitra, Sarasan Chitrayudha and Chitravarman.
Duryodhana lost six of his brothers to Bhima that day.

Ridden
with guilt and morose, Karna again tried to keep up the attack
against Bhima and failed again.

During
this battle, however the tide of the battle turned and Karna was able
to break Bhima’s chariot. Uncaring, Bhima pulled out a sword from
the chariot and attacked Karna. But Karna was too good for that and
cut off the hilt of the sword. Karna knew that he could not give
Bhima another chance and kept firing repeatedly. Bhima however rolled
over as he managed to avoid most of the arrows and reached Karna’s
chariot.

Thanks
to both Arjuna and Satyaki who had entered the Vyugha before him,
Bhima had a relatively easy time inside the Vyugha.

Bhima
razed through the Bhoja division and after destroying that division,
he massacred the Kamvoja division. Bhima knocked out the last soldier
in the Kamvoja division, when he let out a shout of victory.

And
Bhima was shocked at the sight which met him. Because
standing before him was Satyaki who was fighting with the Kaurava
enemies.

Grinning,
Bhima passed Satyaki and within some time, he saw Arjuna with
Krishna…..

Bhima
let out a roar of happiness, which was heard almost all over the
battlefield.

Yudhishtara
who was on the other side of the Vyugha, heard Bhima's roar and let a
glorious smile cover his face. Bhima...My Bhima..He is a
source of joy. He had never said no to me and he ploughed through
this field, just for me and now he has given me the best news that a
man could hope for. Bhima has spotted both Satyaki and Arjuna and
they are both fine.

Yudhishtara
closed his eyes, blessing his brothers and praying that Arjuna
fulfilled his vow today….

*********

Hearing
Bhima's shout almost terrified the Kaurava soldiers, as they ran
away from there.

Bhima
saw Karna and Bhima felt like he was going to burn up in his
anger. This Karna….This very Karna was the reason for this
war...This man misbehaved with his wife….

Bhima
thought no more as Karna and Bhima exchanged arrows with great
ferocity.

Karna
shot repeatedly and fired close to a thirty arrows at Bhima. However
Bhima cut off the arrows and in no time at all, managed to even cut
off the bow of Karna. As Karna was hastily picking up another
bow, Bhima killed Karna's charioteer. Angrily Karna pulled a
golden arrow and aimed it at Bhima and let go….That arrow should
have killed Bhima. But today, Bhima fought marvelously well. Bhima
shot seven successive arrows one after the other and cut off Karna's
arrow.

Soon
it became so bad that the area where Karna and Bhima were fighting,
nothing was visible. Nothing other than a throng of arrows going in
both directions….

Looking
ferociously angry with each other, the two warriors were determined
that there was going to be only one survivor in this
battle….And Bhima now was completely filled with the battle
rage. And that was when Bhima broke Karna's bow for the
second time! As Karna pulled out another bow,
Bhima killed Karna's charioteer (Bhima had already killed one
charioteer. So probably, all chariots had two charioteers or someone
from Karna's division had come to drive his chariot, after the death
of the first charioteer.) and Bhima also killed all
the four horses of Karna.

Duryodhana
was speechless, as he saw Karna struggle against Bheema. He shouted
to his brother Durjaya. 'Karna needs you, now! Go!'

After
the dice game, Bhima had promised that he was going to kill all the
sons of Dhirdarashtra and Gandhari. And on this day, Duryodhana
himself provided an opportunity to Bhima by sending his own brother
to fight Bhima. The battle between Bhima and Durjaya was ridiculously
short.

Karna
watched in horror as Bhima let out a roaring shout and killed
Durjaya. Karna watched the dying man, grief blinding in his eyes and
now he turned his attention back to Bhima. And Karna now wanted
nothing more than to kill the Pandava….

Bhima
did not even care as he pulled out his mace and threw it at Karna.
The mace broke Karna's chariot.

Duryodhana
could not believe it and foolishly sent another of his brother –
Durmukha to protect his friend. The only thing that did happen after
that, was that Duryodhana lost Durmukha to Bhima.

Karna
continued to fight Bhima, but that day belonged to Bhima and Bhima
defeated Karna….

Karna
abandoned his chariot and ran towards the chariot of his brother –
Vrishasena, who led him away from Bhima. Bhima felt like he had
vanquished Karna and let out a roar of happiness.

Yudhishtara
on the other side of the Vyugha smiled again, when he heard his
brother's roar…..

**********

Duryodhana
could not believe the mess in the Vyugha. Arjuna and Krishna
themselves were unstoppable. Now that they were joined by both
Satyaki and Bhima, the Kaurava soldiers had nowhere to run. No matter
where the Kaurava soldiers ran, the Kaurava soldiers were caught by
one of the three fighters and killed mercilessly.

Duryodhana
ran towards his teacher – Dronacharya.

'What
do we do?' Duryodhana asked breathlessly. 'I do not know what to do
against them?' Duryodhana looked at Dronacharya with sudden anger.
'HOW COULD YOU LET BOTH BHIMA AND SATYAKI INSIDE?' Duryodhana
shouted. 'You are Drona! You are our teacher! You are meant to be
invincible and you have failed!' Duryodhana ranted for some more
time. But then he realized that his shouting was doing nothing good
to the morale of his men. 'What should we do?' Duryodhana asked
finally, in a strangled whisper.

'It
is not me!' Drona said. 'The dice that you let your uncle play, in
the Kuru assembly! That is the dice which is coming back to you, in
the form of these arrows!' Drona said watching Duryodhana without any
expression.

'What
should I do?' Duryodhana repeated as he watched Drona with a stone
cold expression.

'Jayadratha!'
Drona said quietly. 'We have to put all our soldiers to protect that
man!'

As
Duryodhana was proceeding towards Jayadratha, two familiar faces met
him – Yudhamanyu and Uttamaujas. They were the princes of Panchala
and were the protectors of Arjuna's chariot wheels. It was just that
today Arjuna and Krishna proceeded so fast inside the Vyugha that
neither Yudhamanyu nor Utamaujas could accompany Arjuna. But they
were making all efforts to get back to Arjuna.

Duryodhana
angrily, let out a shout of anger as he attacked the two princes. In
quick succession, Duryodhana cut off Yudhamanyu's standard and
Yudhamanyu's charioteer. Yudhamanyu, jumped off from the chariot as
he broke Duryodhana's bow. Duryodhana picked up another bow and
attacked Uttamaujas. Duryodhana destroyed Uttamajas's horses.
Angrily, both Yudhamanyu and Duryodhana picked up their maces and
fought with each other. Duryodhana rendered both the princes without
their chariots and without horses with his mace as he got on the
chariot of Shalya and drove away.

Yudhamanyu
and Uttamaujas angrily got on other chariots and tried to go towards
Arjuna...

Watching
his brother Duhshana fall in battle to Satyaki, Duryodhana could take
it no more. Satyaki was already deep into the battle and Duryodhana
had no hope of reaching the man. And so in anger Duryodhana started
attacking the Pandava army.

Bhima
was furious when he saw Duryodhana and he retaliated Duryodhana's
attack with unimaginable ferocity.

Duryodhana
and Bhimas whirled around in their chariots, shooting arrows at each
other. But Duryodhana fought like one possessed. He shot Bhima,
Yudhishtara, Nakula, Sahadeva, Virata and Drupada as his chariot
almost flew around the Pandava army.

Duryodhana
roared in triumph as the Pandavas were astounded with his prowess.
But Yudhishtara was not about to let Duryodhana get away so easy.

Yudhishtara
shot Duryodhana repeatedly and broke Duryodhana's bow. Yudhishtara
shot Duryodhana straight in the chest. Unfortunately Yudhishtara had the same
problem that Arjuna had when Arjuna encountered Duryodhana. The
armour that Duryodhana was wearing, was so strong that Yudhishtara's
arrows shattered when they hit Duryodhana.

But
as the other Pandavas saw Yudhishtara penetrate the defences of
Duryodhana, and they all saw an opportunity to destroy the Kaurava
prince. They quickly came around Duryodhana, surrounding him.

Drona
who was in the edge of the army, shouted as he saw the Pandavas
around Duryodhana.

'FORWARD!'
He shouted at his chariot, as he pointed at Duryodhana. The chariot
nodded as he rode furiously towards the Kaurava prince.

Vrihatkshatra
was the first Pandava to meet Dronacharya as he stormed inside the
Kaurava army. He gave no opportunity for Dronacharya to recover as he
shot the Brahma weapon. Dronacharya was shocked for all of two
seconds, but he then pulled out his own Brahma and nullified the
effects of the weapon shot by Vrihatkshatra.

Dronacharya
wanted to bring the battle to an end immediately, as he shot
Vrihatkshatra without giving him a break. The arrow penetrated
through Vrihatkshtra's armour and passed straight through the body.
Almost swooning, Vrihatkshatra pulled out his own arrow and shot
Dronacharya's charioteer. But now Dronacharya was mad through and
through. He shot Vrihatkshatra's four horses and without wasting another second,
shot Vrihatkshatra's charioteer.

Vrihatkshatra
was unable to understand what was happening, when Drona shot his last
arrow straight at the Vrihatkshatra and the prince fell down, never
to get up again....

Dhrishtaketu,
the son of Sishupala, saw Vrihatkshatra fall and angrily charged at Drona.
However, he too was no match for the acharya and met his end.

After
Dhrishtaketu's son, Jarasandha's son charged towards Drona and he had
no better luck and he also fell.

(A
strange feature in this part of the story is that both Sishupala and
Jarasandha were enemies of Krishna. Bhima, the second Pandava, killed
Jarasandha, just before the Rajasuya yagna of Yudhishtara and Krishna
killed Sishupala during the Rajasuya yagna of Yudhishtra. Despite
this, Veda Vyasa's Mahabharatha states that their children fought the
war on the side of the Pandavas. One of the most possible reasons for
this could be that, after killing the respective kings, their
children – in Jarasandha's case, his son – Sahadeva and in
Sishupalas' case, his son were crowned as the next king. As they were
crowned by the Pandavas, they owed allegiance to the Pandavas and
fought on behalf of the Pandavas)

Meanwhile
back to the story, Drona was becoming unstoppable and the dead bodies
of the Pandava soldiers kept mounting and after Jarasandha's son,
another prince Chetikana also met his end in the hands of Drona.

Drupada,
the father-in-law of the Pandavas, angrily proceeded towards
Dronacharya – his oldest friend and his most hated enemy, now.....

**********

Yudhishtara
was a worried man. Dronacharya was ripping his army to shreds and
there was nothing he could do to stop the man – both Arjuna and
Satyaki, the only two people who seemed to have any success against
Dronacharya were deep inside the Chakravyugha. It was at that time
that Yudhishtara noted something impossible. He had been so engrossed
in the battle against Dronacharya, that he had failed to notice that
he could not hear Arjuna's Gandiva anymore. And added on top of it,
Yudhishtara was even more worried, because Satyaki also could not be
seen – the very man whom Yudhishtara had sent inside the battle
after Arjuna...

Yudhishtara
turned and saw his second brother. Hastily, Yudhishtara, turned to
his charioteer. 'Take me to Bhima!' he said.

The
charioteer frowned, but said nothing as he turned the horses towards
the second Pandava.

'WHAT?'
Bhima asked, barely able to understand what Yudhishtara wanted right
now. But then as he spoke, he saw that Yudhishtara was genuinely
worried... 'What do you want me to do?' Bhima muttered as he saw the
eldest Pandava.

'Go
after Satyaki and Arjuna! I wish to know what happened to them! NOW!'
Yudhishtara said looking at the huge Kaurava army which was filled
with nothing but smoke and dust. 'Please!' Yudhishtara said looking
at Bhima, desperately. 'I am your elder brother! Please listen to me
and do not say no to me!' Yudhishtara pleaded to his brother!

'Stay
with Yudhishtara!' Bhima told his brother-in-law Dhrishtadhyumna, as
Dhrishtadhyumna nodded and Bhima readied his chariot and was set off inside the Chakravyugha in search of Satyaki and Arjuna.

In
the outskirts of the Vyugha, Bhima met the acharya. Drona was
feeling very smug, now that he had practically annihilated the
battalion which had come against him.

'Your
younger brother and Krishna ran inside the Vyugha with my permission!
But you...Bhimasena...' Drona said angrily. 'I will never let you
in!'

Bhima
smiled at Drona coldly, arming his weapon. 'Arjuna could have
destroyed you, if he wanted to! Because he still respects you! I....'
Bhima's eyes were blazing with anger as he looked at Drona. 'I used
to respect you like my father! But now you are my enemy and I shall
treat you as such!' Bhima had not even finished his sentence when he
picked up his mace and with unerring accuracy threw it at Drona's
chariot.

Drona
was really not expecting anything and with widened eyes, he threw
himself back from his chariot. Drona landed on the hard ground which
was a good thing, because his chariot was reduced to rubble as
Bhima's mace destroyed it completely....

And
Bhima waited no more. Using all the weapons at his command, he hacked
his way through the Kaurava army.

Dronacharya
hastily got inside another chariot, but by that time, Bhima was
already deep inside the Vyugha....

'Back
into the Kaurava, army!' Satyaki said grimly. The reason for his
grimness was obvious. Satyaki had come out of the Chakravyugha. And
now on the way inside, he had to meet Dronacharya again. This time
the acharya would make sure that Satyaki would not get off as easily
as before.

Satyaki
met Drona. Unlike the previous time, Drona wasted no time in talking
with the warrior. He had probably realized that Satyaki just needed
half a chance to win and the veteran was fighting constantly without
a break. Much to Drona's outrage, he realized that Satyaki was
effortlessly able to counter his moves. Drona realized something that
Arjuna had known for some time ago – Like Arjuna, Satyaki too was a
perfect student of archery....someone who had learnt the art so well
that the bow and the arrows seemed to obey Satyaki's thoughts instead
of his fingers....

Unfortunately
for Drona two things were against him – his age and his temper.
Drona was too much of a seasoned warrior to be affected by anything
in the battle. But Satyaki right now was fighting mad. The battle
between him and Kritivarman had brought out the perfect rage inside
Satyaki who was learning to temper it in battle and in the battle
between Drona and Satyaki, slowly Satyaki was winning...

Suddenly
Drona broke Satyaki's bow. Shocked, Satyaki threw his mace at Drona
with a perfect aim. It was Drona's turn to be shocked, as he fired
three arrows one behind the other, breaking Satyaki's iron mace.
Quickly, Satyaki picked up another bow, as Drona realized that he
could not touch Satyaki. Suddenly Drona fired straight at the
charioteer of Satyaki. With his new bow, Satyaki was unable to react
in time, as the arrow as usual found its aim and Satyaki's charioteer
swooned in the chariot. The horses were going wildly, when Drona saw
something that he had rarely seen in his life...in fact it was
something that very few people in the battlefield had seen. Satyaki
effortlessly managed the horses and fired back at Drona as if nothing
had changed...

Satyaki
watched as his charioteer was slowly waking
up, when he realized what he had to do....Satyaki fired one after
another arrow at Drona and suddenly he fired at Drona's charioteer.
Drona was not quick enough as the charioteer fell...Unfortunately
Drona was not able to manage his horses.

'SAVE
THE TEACHER!' A shout went through the Kaurava army. Most of the
warriors ran after Drona's
chariot and Satyaki smiled
as he saw the almost empty battlefield before him...

'Drive!'
Satyaki said to his
charioteer who was now recovering.....

Winning
that battle against Drona made Satyaki feel almost invincible right
now. The first king he met
after Drona was Sudarsana. It
was a wasted affair. The king was nowhere near the class of Satyaki
and Satyaki killed him in no time. 'The
path where there is most destruction in the Kaurava army – that is
the path which Arjuna has taken! Follow it!'he told his charioteer.

The
Kamvojas, Sakas and Barburas....all threw their armies before Satyaki
and Satyaki destroyed all them. Jalasandha's
troops were no match for Satyaki. As Satyaki destroyed Jalasandha's
division, he was surrounded by the troops of Duryodhana, Chitrasena,
Duhshasana, Vivinsati, Shakuni, Duhsala and Durdarshana and Kratha.
It is said that in that single encounter, Satyaki killed three
hundred horsemen and four
hundred elephants.....

The
brilliance in the battle
suddenly shifted from Arjuna to Satyaki and the way he fought it seemed like there was almost no difference between
teacher and the pupil....Satyaki destroyed the troops and moved closer to Arjuna.

Having
no other choice, Duryodhana asked the Samshaptakas to attack Satyaki
in a useless attempt to stop him.

Watching
the carnage by Satyaki, Dushasana had a sudden idea. Duryodhana had
befriended some people from the mountains, who were skilled in
fighting with stones. Dushasana went to the mountaineers. 'Fight for
Duryodhana! Your methods of fighting are something that neither the
Kauravas nor the Pandavas know!' Dushasana said hastily, as he swallowed painfully watching Satyaki destroy the last unit of the troops which were against
him.

The
mountaineers rallied and picked up huge boulders and had them thrown
at Satyaki. It did not stop Satyaki at all. In fact it did not matter
to Satyaki what was before him....And Dushasana's move was being
counterproductive. As Satyaki
destroyed the boulders being thrown at him, the sharp shards of the
stones, hit the soldiers of the Kaurava army, further injuring
them....Dushasana panicked and ran from the battle.....

Drona
watched and was shocked as Dushasana came running from inside the
Vyugha, looking terrified.

'Your
elder brother
trusts you!' Drona said angrily. 'It was you who insulted Draupadi in
the open court, because of
which we are seeing this day!
And now you are facing the fruit of your actions, you are running
away?' Drona asked in a sneering tone. 'And
you are facing one man – one man from the Satwata race! What
will you do when Arjuna, Bhima or the twins come and face you?' Drona
demanded angrily. 'You are a warrior! You cannot run away like this!
What will your soldiers do, when they watch their prince running
scared? Go back and fight!' Drona thundered angrily.

Wordlessly Dushasana watched Drona and then went back and fought Satyaki again.

In his anger Dushasana was fighting better than
before. The Kauravas who accompanied Dushasana, ran away in fright, but not
Dushasana. Seeing Dushasana fighting passionately, Satyaki abandoned
the normal arrows and using the mantras, made himself, his horses and
his charioteer invisible. Being invisible, Satyaki attacked
Dushasana.

Duryodhana
who was across the battlefield, shouted wildly as his brother
suddenly disappeared under the constant barrage of arrows.
'Trigarthas!' Duryodhana shouted. 'Protect Dushasana!'

Three
hundred Trigarthas surrounded Satyaki. But
then today Satyaki was determined to teach Dushasana a lesson.
Quickly moving in close to Dushasana, Satyaki, killed Dushasana's
horses, charioteer and broke Dushasana's chariot. The leader of the
Trigarthas watched shocked as he threw his men at Satyaki to let
Dushasana escape on the chariot with him....

Meanwhile
outside in the Vyugha, Drona, wanted nothing more than to go and face Satyaki. But he was having quiet
a job in his hands. The Panchalas had surrounded him.
Dhrishtadhyumna and Drona fought a spirited battle in the outskirts
of the Vyugha. It almost seemed like the battle was going to go
Dhrishdhyumna's way, and that he was going to keep the oath for which
he was born. Drona
however killed Dhrishtdhyumna's charioteer. Dhrishtadhyumna fled the
battle....

Drona
watched the Pandavas angrily, picking out random soldiers. But the
Pandava soliders were too scared and none of them countered the attack.